Mad Catz: MS could/would not block us
Wireless-N Xbox 360 adapter wars begin.
Mad Catz has told Eurogamer that its Wireless-N Gaming Adapter could not and would not be blocked by Microsoft, despite having the same functionality for a lower price.
"Let me make a couple of things very very very clear," explained Alex Verrey, Mad Catz spokesperson. "A lot of sources have been commenting that Microsoft are going to come and lock it out and stop it working or whatever. Well it doesn't work like that because it plugs into the Ethernet port of the Xbox 360 or indeed the PS3 - both consoles pick it up as a wired connection.
"There's absolutely no way that Microsoft could conceivably lock it out," he said. "They can't lock it out and nor would they want to."
Verrey made it very very very clear that this is "not a licensed Microsoft product" but said the platform holder is one of Mad Catz' treasured partners.
"Microsoft is a licensee of ours. We would never ever do anything to put Microsoft's nose out of joint as it were, and we would never look to battle against them in any way by producing a cheap knock-off product," explained Verrey.
Mad Catz' Wireless-N network adapter costs £49.99 whereas Microsoft's official Wireless-N adapter costs £59.99. The former is out now; the latter will be released on Friday 20th November.
"I'm not prepared to publicly come out and say, "Yes it's better than..." added Verrey. "It uses Wireless-N technology so they both essentially do the same thing.
"We think ours has got a series of features that you might not find on others including the official Microsoft one. Ours for instance is compatible with PS3 and other devices and ours comes with a one-meter Ethernet cable, which means you don't have to have it tethered to your machine if you want to move it around."
Verrey wouldn't comment on why no one else has done this before, and said Mad Catz tries simply to stay on the "cusp" of new technology and so has been researching this Wireless-N adaptor "for a while". "In fact, we didn't even know that Microsoft were bringing out their Wireless-N adapter at the same time," promised Verrey.
He went on to say that the Modern Warfare 2 range of Mad Catz goods had sold very well, and that there will be the brand new Street Fighter IV Round 2 Arcade FightStick here before Christmas, featuring new artwork by Udon painters.
The peripheral maker has some top secret products in development too. "We are going to be announcing some significant new products that we know are just going to blow you guys away. They're going to be announced at CES [in January]," Verrey told us.
"Can I give you guys a hint? Um... I think fighting fans are going to be happy. We've got some brand new licences that we're looking forward to talking about and that's all I'm going to say at the moment because I'm going to get myself into trouble."
It's not motion-sensing boxing gloves is it?
"Ahhh haa haa hahahaaaa," bellowed Verrey. "I'm not going to say a word, Rob - you're not going to be able to cajole that out of me!" [Get a room. - Ed]
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Comments (28) Latest comment 2 years ago
Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!
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The Madcatz sticks for Street Fighter IV are very solid, they certainly made me think again about MadCatz. Great stuff!
Just think what you could do with that £10!
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http://ww w.engadget.com/2009/11/08/elusi...
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badoom-tish
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But it's nice to see there's a bit of competition in the market after Microsoft's price gouging, and it will hopefully spur some other companies to release some more competitive products. A budget Wireless G adaptor for ~£15 would be a big hit, for example.
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You could buy the Eurogamer iPod app.
I agree with other posters, the MS accessories are very good I buy them instead of the knock offs now, on a related note the Sony Playstation branded bluetooth mic is superb.
Pair it to the PS with USB and it gives a high quality voice mode you don't get if you pair using the bluetooth pairing service. One week after I purchased it my friends did the same as they could hear the voice quality difference whilst playing games.
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Who on earth asked that kind of question? This kind of thing has been possibly to do cheaply for literally before the X360 even existed.
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Would: on one side, this device is obviously overprice but the official one is even worse, so M$ might want to protect their profits; on the other side, the two companies are partners, so there was obviously some kind of agreement.
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I'd probably spend the extra on the official one though. I've been wary of Mad Catz stuff in the past but gave some of their Rock Band gear a go after they got decent write ups. I got a bass guitar and their microphone with buttons in it. They're both decent enough, but they're still not quite the same as the official kit, as I had trouble with the tilt sensor on the bass and the microphone feels a bit light and isn't as sensitive. A bit of messing around with both has improved matters, but they're still not quite there for me.
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